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Biomedical subjects

R A Kruger

Publications and source records attributed to R A Kruger.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Computerized arteriography of the cerebrovascular system: its use with intravenous administration of contrast material.

A unique method of computerized image enhancement makes it possible to visualize the arterial system by intravenous (IV) injection of small doses of standard contrast agent. This technique has been used to study the intracranial and extracranial circulation of more than 100 patients. Occlusion, stenosis, aneurysmal change, plaquing, and ulceration can be identified by computerized IV arteriography. Failures (less than 10%) results from inadequate venous access, extravasation of dye, or patient motion. This technique avoids the need for arteriography. The major risk of IV arteriography is contrast medium reaction. There is a close correlation between IV and standard arteriographic images. Intravenous arteriography does not require hospitalization, is suited for repetitive testing, and has promise as a method of diagnostic screening for stroke prevention.

Cerebral Angiography↗
PubMed1981

A method for the noninvasive evaluation of cardiovascular dynamics using a digital radiographic device.

The authors describe a technique for visualizing and quantitating blood flow and cardiac dynamics following the intravenous administration of contrast material (less than 1 ml/kg). This method uses a digital radiographic device while motion by the patient or test subject is stopped. Preliminary flow studies of the carotid arteries and heart of a dog are presented. This technique has the potential to quantitate physiological parameters such as relative blood flow through pairs of arteries, cardiac output, regional ejection fraction, and heart-wall movement and thickening.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Dual energy film subtraction technique for detecting calcification in solitary pulmonary nodules.

A simple film subtraction technique has been devised that isolates calcium image contrast and mutes tissue image contrast. Two exposures are required. The first is made on XL film using a 65 kVp beam filtered with 2 mm aluminum. The second is made on OG (high contrast) film using a 130 kVp beam filtered with 2 mm copper and 2 mm aluminum. The effective energies of these two beams are approximately 45 keV and 83 keV, respectively. A subtraction image is made, using the low energy image for the mask. With this technique it is possible to detect concentrations of 125 mg/cm3 of diffuse calcification in a chest nodule 1 cm in diameter. If the presence of diffuse calcification is found to be an indicator of benignancy in solitary pulmonary nodules, this technique may have diagnostic value for the detection of such calcification. Computerized tomographic findings are discussed and related to this technique.

Calcinosis↗
PubMed1981

Digital video subtraction angiography for evaluation of peripheral vascular disease.

Digital video subtraction angiography (DVSA) has been employed to study a variety of peripheral vascular problems, using equipment developed at the University of Wisconsin. The technique is relatively simple and safe and has good patient acceptance. Experience indicates that in selected patients it is a satisfactory alternative to standard arteriography for screening and for definitive evaluation and on occasion may yield information not obtainable with conventional methods. It can aid in the performance of transluminal angioplasty and is suitable for serial evaluation of atherosclerotic vessels and bypass grafts.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Clinical applications of computerized fluoroscopy: the extracranial carotid arteries.

Preliminary results obtained with a new computerized fluoroscopic apparatus in examination of the extracranial carotid arteries are described. All patients had clinical signs of symptoms of extracranial occlusive vascular disease. In most cases, image quality was sufficient to display patency of the internal carotid arteries, with excellent correlation between intravenous and conventional angiography. While the new technique is not totally noninvasive, it does eliminate many of the risks and costs of conventional arteriography.

Arterial Occlusive Diseases↗
PubMed1980

Computerized fluoroscopy: digital subtraction for intravenous angiocardiography and arteriography.

Computerized fluoroscopy is a system comprising on-line digital time and energy subtraction algorithms designed to isolate and enhance the iodine signal from image intensified fluoroscopy. The apparatus is described and its use for time subtraction intravenous arteriography of the carotid, abdominal, extremely arteries, as well as the heart, is illustrated. Vascular diseases such as stenoses, obstruction, emboli, ulcerative plaques, and aneurysms are readily demonstrated. The technique has a potential for evaluating cardiac motion and the patency of coronary artery bypass grafts. The method appears to be a safe and less expensive alternative to catheter arteriography and angiocardiography in certain instances.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

A hybrid computerized fluoroscopy technique for noninvasive cardiovascular imaging.

The excellent linearity of digital image storage and retrieval permits hybrid analog-digital subtraction to extend the spatial resolution of two previously developed algorithms which employed entirely digital apparatus. A low resolution, time-integrated preinjection digital mask image is reconverted to analog form and subtracted from live analog video images of iodine administered by peripheral intravenous injection to produce a high resolution display of the cardiovascular system with contrast ten times greater than conventional fluoroscopy. Preliminary studies in dogs are compared with images obtained with our digital subtraction algorithms.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Digital K-edge subtraction radiography.

K-edge subtraction images have been produced using a digital video image processor. Images formed by three filtered x-ray beams are detected by an image intensifier-Plumbicon system, digitilized, and combined in real time to produce bone- and tissue-free K-edge subtraction images of iodinated structures. Preliminary studies of rhesus monkey cranial, spinal, and abdominal structures are compared with those of conventional radiography.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Real-time digital K-edge subtraction fluoroscopy.

We report in vitro and in vivo trials of K-edge fluoroscopy, by which iodine contrast concentration is displayed live, with tissue and bone images suppressed, free of patient-motion artifacts. Iodine and cerium, 125 and 225 mg/cm2 respectively, filter alternate TV fields of cine-pulsed 50 KVP x-rays. Weighted subtraction of successive TV fields isolates the iodine image and simultaneously minimizes artifacts. Digital techniques are used in real time. At our present x-ray tube limit, 500 mA instantaneous current, the patient exposure is 180 mR/sec and quantum mottle limits the image quality. Integrating four successive difference images provides a compromise between mottle and smoothly moving displays. Cardiovascular images of a 17-kg dog, using 1 ml/kg Renografin-60 injected into a foreleg vein, show that a 15-cm chest thickness is our present practical maximum. This method may be useful in diagnosing cardiovascular anomalies in infants without catheterization or suspension of breathing.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Computerized fluoroscopy techniques for intravenous study of cardiac chamber dynamics.

A computerized fluoroscopy system which was recently developed in our laboratories permits image contrast increases of 8-16 relative to conventional image intensifer fluoroscopy and permits study of canine and human ventricular wall motion using peripheral intravenous injections. Two time-dependent image subtraction algorithms are illustrated in connection with observation of artificially infarcted dog hearts. The first algorithm produces a display analogous to direct ventriculography using catheterization. The second displays regions of dyskinetic motion as anomalous image grey shades.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Vascular tracing: a new videoangiographic algorithm.

Using a modified recursive video digital noise filter which was originally designed for commercial broadcast of noise reduced videotape, we have developed a digital processing algorithm for videoangiography. The vascular tracing algorithm traces out the entire route of a small, concentrated contrast bolus by literally "remembering" each minimum x-ray transmission (maximum contrast) seen by the video frame on a pixel by pixel basis over any amount of time recorded. High quality videoangiogram composite frames can be obtained and recorded. Large vascular segments are traced with small volumes. The additive nature of the vascular tracing image eliminates the costly and technically demanding necessity for rapid film sequences.

Angiography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effectiveness of antiscatter grids in digital subtraction angiography.

An analysis of the potential value of antiscatter grids for digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is presented. Using the Rose criterion for signal detection, and assuming quantum limited statistical noise, it is shown that grid selectivity and primary transmission are the two most important parameters of grid performance for DSA. In comparison with conventional grids commonly in current use in radiology departments, a grid having a higher level of primary transmission, (approximately 90%) and a moderate level of selectivity (approximately 6) could provide comparable imaging signal-to-noise ratios, but with 20% to 45% smaller patient dose. Implications of these results are discussed.

Angiography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relative properties of tomography, K-edge imaging, and K-edge tomography.

The properties of tomography, K-edge imaging, and K-edge tomography are discussed in relation to the imaging of small concentrations of elements such as iodine and xenon and are compared by means of phantom images. It is demonstrated that the complementary selectivities provided by depth and energy subtraction are combined in K-edge tomography. Using a three-spectrum subtraction technique, the iodine difference signal predicted by computer calculations is on the order of 8000 times that of an equal concentration fo bone. The corresponding ratio in tomography without energy subtraction is 20:1. It is argued that K-edge tomography can successfully eliminate artifacts due to tissue inhomogeneities which presently enable 0.6% variations in tissue attenuation to mimic minimum detectable iodine signals in conventional computed tomography. Various instrumentation possibilities and energy subtraction techniques are discussed.

Models, Structural↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Limitations to iodine isolation using a dual beam non-K-edge approach.

In dual-beam selective iodine imaging, images of an object are made with each of two spectrally different x-ray beams. The mean beam energies may either straddle the 33 keV iodine K-edge or both lie above the K-edge. Both patient exposure considerations and the availability of sufficient x-ray flux make the latter approach favorable for tissue thicknesses exceeding 5 cm. Consider such an approach in which image contrast from tissue is suppressed in the difference image. It is proven theoretically that the residual bone-to-iodine contrast is a constant independent of the two mean beam energies used. This invariance principle is demonstrated experimentally by comparing images made from different pairs of x-ray spectra. Observed contrast ratios match the predicted value very well. In dual-beam imaging, contrast from only one material may be suppressed. Other substances yield residual signals which compete with the iodine. Subtleties of this incomplete cancellation are demonstrated, discussed, and quantitated. A contrast enhancement factor (CEF) is defined as the factor by which iodine contrast is enhanced in a multiple beam subtraction technique relative to monoenergetic imaging at 40 keV. CEFs are determined for tissue and bone cancellation separately and their limits are discussed. Images of a simulated artery containing iodine superimposed over a Rando head and neck phantom show that the CEF limitation for dual beam imaging is quite severe compared to a time dependent mask mode imaging approach. Finally, optimum, energies for dual beam images are discussed.

Bone and Bones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A method for time domain filtering using computerized fluoroscopy.

A new computerized fluoroscopy technique for isolating low image contrast, which results during the flow of an intravenously administered bolus of iodinated contrast materials, is proposed. The technique requires the application of one of a family of imaging algorithms which have been designed to isolate time varying image contrast. This family of imaging algorithm is described, as is the way in which each isolates a particular range of temporal frequency components associated with the bolus's flow through various cardiovascular structures. The implementation of these algorithms in real time using appropriate digital recursive filtering techniques is described. The architecture of a dedicated hardwired computerized fluoroscopy apparatus which would incorporate these algorithms is also presented.

Computers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Three-beam K-edge imaging of iodine using differences between fluoroscopic video images: theoretical considerations.

Our lab has previously generated selective iodine images with an image intensifier fluoroscopic system using a three-beam K-edge approach. Logarithmically amplified video images Li were linearly combined to yield the final image k1L1 + k2L2 + k3L3. This paper discusses refinements of the K-edge technique. A study is made of the manner in which contrast-reducing effects such as x-ray scatter and image intensifier veiling glare enter into the final image. If such biases can be approximated as multiplicative and independent of the x-ray spectrum, and if the sum of the ki is zero, then the biases are canceled. Experimental data is presented which demonstrates that the inaccuracy due to such biases can be reduced by a factor as large as 10. The theorem that K1 + K2 + K3 is approximately equal to 0 is proven rigorously and discussed. Because the ki add to zero, the final image can be expressed as a linear combination of two of the differences between the Li. A difference-based algorithm which reduces biases and make allowance for nonlinearities such as beam hardening is proposed and discussed.

Fluoroscopy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Three-beam K-edge imaging of iodine using differences between fluoroscopic video images: experimental results.

In an earlier article we discussed the rationale for using differences between video images in three-beam selective iodine K-edge imaging. Rather than combining three initial images Li linearly to yield the final image k1L1 + k2L2 + k3L3, differences between the Li were first generated and then combined either to linear or quadratic order. This approach was motivated by the desire to suppress the large multiplicative biases of fluoroscopic imaging and justified by theoretically proving that k1 + k2 + k3 is approximately equal to 0. In this paper we discuss the instrumentation and experimental results obtained from this difference-based technique. A specially-constructed apparatus is described which automatically selects the optimum combination coefficients and combines the difference images up to quadratic order at realtime video rates. Three methods for generating K-edge subtraction images are compared: the former approach in which the Li are linearly combined and combination of differences to linear and quadratic order. In imaging phantoms in which the iodine distribution is known, the resultant subtraction images from all three methods appear similar. Inspection of signal sizes shows that the quadratic difference-based approach provides superior bone and tissue residual suppression by about a factor of 2. In imaging phantoms in which the iodine distribution is unknown, incomplete suppression of x-ray scatter and image intensifier veiling glare prevent a quantitative comparison of performance of the three algorithms. An experiment verification is provided of the theorem which states that k1 + k2 + k3 is approximately equal to 0.

Fluoroscopy↗